The Road to Twilight
by MoltenMatt
Summary: Link returns from his search for his long lost friend Navi. After his duties as a hero are over, what will he do with his life now? Will he find acceptance back into the Kokiri? How will his life long friend Saria react to his long absence? How does Malon and Talon play a part in his journey? Will Link find his true purpose in life?
1. Homecoming

The Road to Twilight

Do you believe that we are born into this world for a reason? That our destiny is set in stone from the moment we enter this world? For the longest time I used to believe that this was my reason for living, my soul purpose on this world. What was the point of living once this duty was fulfilled? After all the battles have been won is, they're any point to continue on fighting? These were all the questions I asked myself when I heard her play the last melody, I would hear before returning back to my own time.

It had been almost a year since that day. The day when the princess of the land of Hyrule, had sent me seven years back into the past. The war against the king of evil had been won, thanks to the efforts of the "Hero of Time." My duties were over for the time being, but my life was far from over, I need to find my true purpose in this world, it can't all be some silly prophecy about me saving the land of Hyrule.

The sun shined brightly in the clear sky, shinning its great rays all across the land. Sweat dripped across the top of my forehead as I continued walking across the green plains. The scorching rays of the sun were starting to get to me. "Maybe I shouldn't have returned Epona to Malon, she would have made this trip a lot faster," I said as I reached into my pocket to pull out a rag. I rubbed the rag across my face, wiping the sweat off in the process of doing so. Hyrule Field was still as large and open as I remembered, for some reason I felt as if it was even bigger then the last time I was there. I returned the rag to my pocket while continuing my journey across the seemingly endless plains. "_Navi…. I failed you, what kind of friend am I_?" I was still caught in thought as I continued on towards a forest that was not to far from were I was.

The forest was just as green and vibrant as I remembered. So many different organisms all inhabited this diverse place. The air was pure and you could smell the rich soil of the forest. Trees of all different kinds covered the land not any of them looking slightly similar. "_I sure have missed this_," I thought. I approached a dark tunnel with a vague light gleaming out of it. I continued through the tunnel until the light got brighter as I continued on. I reached the end of the tunnel and all the light glistened together revealing the place I had come to know as my home for all of my life: Kokiri Forest.

Nothing had changed, everything looked exactly as I remembered it to be. All the houses in the forest were still built in tree stumps; the waterfall by the shop still flowed into a small inlet. "_I wonder if they'll, all be happy to see me_," I thought, as I felt the nostalgia flow through me. My hometown was small, but very wide open. I could remember the time when Mido and me had a race around the entire forest; the winner of the race won a picnic with Saria. "_Of coarse I won, that slowpoke couldn't beat me even if I raced with my eyes closed_." Everything seemed to be the same as I remembered, until I realized that something was missing in this forest I had called "home" for such a long time. The people that I had called my friends for so long were nowhere to be found. The Kokiris were all missing, as if they had vanished into thin air. I was baffled at the fact that the forest was this empty; it was usually so exciting and full of energy. I looked around for any sign of life and not even a fairy was in sight. That is until; I started to hear whispers coming from some of the houses in the forest. "Who is that boy?" one voice said. "I've never seen him before in my life," another voice said. I heard some of the voices coming from the houses and turned to face were they where coming from. "I know you guys are in there, so you can come out," I said a little vexed by their actions.

A few of them gasped as they heard me talk and they all quickly stopped talking. I approached the house were the noises were coming from, but before I could open the door a boy barged out of it pointing a small sword at me. He was wearing the traditional Kokiri outfit; a green tunic, green pants and a pointy green hat. The boy had freckles on the cheeks of his face and had blonde a couple of stands of blonde hair coming out of his hat. The sword he wielded was small, the grip was red and he looked like he'd never used the blade in his entire life.

"Don't take one more step! Or else I'll grind you up into a nice seasoning for a salad!" The boy yelled as he quivered witch made him unable to even hold the blade properly.

"I see you still can't even use that sword I gave you, didn't I tell you to practice Mido?" I said as I grinned at him. Though it had been a while since the last time I saw him, he looked exactly as I remembered.

His eyes widened at what I said and his mouth opened in awe. "L-Link…is that really you?" he said as he dropped the blade.

I smiled as he said my name. I was finally home.


	2. Changes

Authors Note: _I tried to make this chapter much longer then the first one, so tell me if you like the change. Leave reviews please, I need all the input I can get__. I can't believe people actually enjoy this, but I guess it's cool that people like my writing. So enough with my bantering! Chapter 2 Everyone! _

The Road to Twilight, Chapter 2: Changes

Italics: thoughts

(Saria's P.O.V)

Everyone was crowding around the door so I couldn't see a thing. They were all talking at once so it was difficult to make out what any of them were actually saying. I was so curious to what it was we had all been hiding from. It was probably just a Deku Shrub again and Mido overreacted. "_Honestly, what would we do if a real intruder came into the forest? Would we just cower in fear in our homes and just wait for them to find us_?" I thought to myself mentally. The fact that our people had no kind of defensive capabilities made me quiver in the thought of a real attack. _"Sometimes I really wonder why the Great Deku Tree ever made him our leader__. Why hadn't he been made leader instead?_" I suddenly realized whom I was thinking about and quickly shook my head at the statement. I should respect The Great Deku Trees decisions more. Then all at once all the Kokiris in front of me went quiet as I heard Mido mumble a name I hadn't heard in a long time.

I quickly pushed myself through the hordes of Kokiri blockading the door. I couldn't believe what Mido had just said. "_Link are you really here? I need to see for myself if this is for real_," I thought to myself as I pushed myself through the last of the Kokiri and out the front door. In front of me stood Mido, starring in awe at a young boy in front of him.

The boy had long blonde hair and sported the same outfit that both Mido and me were wearing. Though he looked a little big for the clothes, but he still looked somewhat presentable. It seemed as though his sleeves had shortened in length a little as well as his pants. However, even though this changed about him his green hat still fit perfectly on his head; just as it always had. His belt buckle was fixated around his waist as it held a few bags for carrying certain travel items. He was equipped with both a sword and a shield. The sword was much longer then the sword Mido had drawn on him and had yellow shaped diamonds inverted on the blade. The grip was red, but also had a yellow diamond inverted on it as well. The cross-guard of the sword was curved and was blue. The pommel at the bottom of the sword was bright yellow. His shield reflected some of the light from the sun and made it look very bright. The edges of the shield were red and had three lines of yellow on both sides that were parallel to one another. The center of the shield was silver, but had a picture of a surprised looking face on it. The eyes of the face were big and black and its eyebrows were raised in surprise. Its mouth was wide open in shock as well.

The blonde haired boy picked up the blade that Mido had previously dropped on the ground. He handed the blade to Mido while saying "You dropped this Mido, maybe later I can show you how to hold a blade properly." Mido however, looked like he was to in shock to even take the blade from his long lost friend. Mido gently took the blade from Links hand, while not taking his eyes off from Link.

I had never been so happy and so angry at the same time in my life before. He was finally here with the others and me again. I saw him look at me and smile, the same smile that he used to give me every day years ago. So many emotions boiled up inside of me like a big pot of soup. I needed to see if this was real or just another one of my pathetic dreams. I pushed Mido out of the way and wrapped both of my arms around Link, holding him into a tight embrace. My arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders as I realized how he had gotten taller. I only was barely up to his chin he grew so much.

"H-hey Saria, it's been a little while since the last time we've seen each other hasn't it?" His face was a little red at the fact that I was hugging him. "_Well same old Link, he's still to shy to even hug me back_," I thought to myself. He slowly made his way out of the embrace I had him because it seemed as though I was hugging him a bit to hard. He had changed so much from the boy that left the forest only a year ago.

"Enough with this sentimental reunion! Link, what the heck happened to you? I mean, you look a little different then the last time I saw you," Mido exclaimed as he interrupted one of the most important moments of my life. "_He's going to face my wrath later_," I thought.

"How about we all go back to Saria's house for some tea and I can explain all of this," Link stated as I came back to my senses after getting lost in my thoughts. Mido and me both nodded at each other and followed Link to my house as the rest of the Kokiri watched us from afar.

* * *

Mido was pacing around the table in circles trying in an effort to try to calm his mind. I was sitting at the table with a cup of home made tea in my hand; that I made for the three of us. Link was silently sipping some of his tea as he slouched back in his chair. His sword and shield were both set aside by the front door of the house. He looked so calm and at peace, as if nothing in the whole world could ruin this happy state he was in. He had told us all about the adventures he had been on. How his search for Navi brought him to the world of Termina, witch had turned out to be the parallel world to our very own land of Hyrule. How he had thwarted a Skull Kid possessed by an evil mask and met many new people along the way. His journeys took him even farther then the land of Hyrule and even to lands beyond. He had done so much in just year; it was too amazing for me to even comprehend. His life was filled with such action and adventure. He really had grown up quite a lot.

"How can you two be drinking tea and catching up at a time like this? We have to get to the bottom of this mystery," Mido said as he stopped frantically pacing around the room.

I gently took another sip of my tea and set it down on the table and sighed. "Mido, calm down. So what if Link looks a little different, he's still the same person that we've come to know all of these years," I said.

"I know! I know, but its strange that he changed like this, I thought that Kokiri weren't suppose to age," Mido said. He was right, we Kokiri are supposed to be ageless. I was baffled at the fact that Link had somehow managed to age a little.

Link closed his eyes and sighed. "I guess you guys were going to find out sooner or later, so I might as well tell you two now," he said as he opened his eyes with a serious look on his face. Mido and me both looked at him with sudden fascination at his previous statement.

"_What could he be talking about? Has he been keeping something from me? Why would he keep something from me? I thought we were supposed to be best friends that could tell each other everything_," I thought to myself in frustration.

"For the longest time I thought that I was a Kokiri, but I had been lied to my entire life," Link said.

"What are you talking about? Of coarse you are a Kokiri you idiot!" Mido yelled slamming his hands on the table.

"Mido, calm down," I said, as I made sure the tea didn't fall of the table.

Link shook his head and said, "No, The Great Deku Tree lied to me to make me feel like I fit in with the rest of the Kokiri. He just wanted to do what he thought was best for me."

"I don't believe it," I said in disbelief.

Link nodded and said, "It turns out my real mother died right here in the forest, with me when I was just a baby; she was actually a Hylian."

"So you're a…Hylian," I said in disbelief. I couldn't believe what I had just heard; my life long best friend was actually a Hylian and not a Kokiri. Was I suppose to be upset or proud that he was one of the descendents from the goddess Hylia?

"How long have you known this and why didn't you tell us before you left the forest?"

"It's hard to explain," Link responded looking down.

He always did this to us. He would about to say something important and then he would just forget it and say, "It's hard to explain." Its as if he always thought that he was a burden to talk to, that his friends wouldn't understand him.

"_Why is he so mysterious all the time? He's acted like this ever since he came back from that mission The Great Deku Tree sent him on to Hyrule Castle_," I thought to myself. He had been only gone for two or three days, but he seemed so different when he retuned. Like, those few days had been the longest days of his entire life. It was all so strange to me.

"Whatever, all that matters is that your back home," I said trying to smile. Even though there were so many questions I wanted to ask him, I thought it was best to just let it go for a little while.

"Link I think me and you should go see The Great Deku Tree," Mido said all a sudden.

"Mido, you know that The Great Deku Tree is dead and he has been for a long time," I said sadly as I remembered how long it had been since he had passed away. The Great Deku Tree was the guardian of the forest and he protected us from anything that would try to invade. He died after Link vanquished the evil that had been inside of him.

"For what reason are we going to see him?" Link asked curiously.

"You'll see when we get there," Mido said as he started to head out the door. Link got up from his chair and thanked me for the tea. He proceeded to retrieve his sword and shield before following Mido out the door. I quickly put all the teacups away and followed the two of them out the door until Mido stopped me from doing so.

"Hey Saria, do you mind staying here and making sure the rest of the Kokiri don't get into any trouble while were gone?" he asked me.

"Oh...sure, you guys just go do whatever it is you need to do," I said shyly. I wanted to rebel and say that I wanted to go with them, but I just didn't have the confidence in me to do so. What was Mido hiding from me? Was everybody excluding me from now on?

"I'll see you later Saria. Maybe, later we can play our ocarinas together," Link said smiling. He always knew how to lighten the mood of any given situation. I loved playing music with him; it was one thing that the both of us loved doing together.

"Sure, that sounds great. Comeback soon," I said waving both of them off. They headed out of the village and towards the remains of The Great Deku Tree. As I watched them leave I couldn't help, but wonder what it was exactly Mido had to show to Link. Soon an idea came into my head. "_Maybe, I should follow them and see what exactly that Mido is up too_," I thought to myself. It was a very a selfish idea of mine, but I really want to know what exactly Mido is trying to hide from me. So, without further hesitation I quietly followed both Link and Mido towards the remains of The Great Deku Tree

* * *

(Links P.O.V)

As we traveled down the narrow path to the remains of The Great Deku Tree, I couldn't help, but remember my first trial of my adventure to save the land of Hyrule. How I vanquished the evil inside of The Great Deku Tree, but in the end he still perished.

"_Why did he have to die like that? I wish I could have done something sooner, then maybe I might have been able to save him in time_," I thought to myself. Even though I was the "Hero of Time," it seems that I couldn't do everything.

Mido glanced at me and said "Is something wrong, Link?" He looked at me with a worried face, something that I have never seen him do before to me. He had always been jealous of me for being close to Saria. He had never once actually worried about me, but I guess we had become closer then I thought over the years.

"Oh its just…I feel bad that I was never able to save The Great Deku Tree from dying," I said looking at him with deep remorse.

Mido reached up and put his hand on my shoulder. Even though he was a little shorter then me he still managed to be able to reach up and touch me. He looked in my eyes with a bit of sympathy and said "I know before you left the forest I blamed his death on you, but I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for ever saying such cruel words."

"His death was not your fault, it was that evil Gerudo from the desert remember? He came and put that curse on The Great Deku Tree."

I cringed my head away from Mido when he referred to the evil man. It had been a year since he was accused of his treacherous nature to the land of Hyrule. I knew him all to well and wanted to forget about him, but no matter where I went in the world it seemed as though people were still talking about him. "_Ganondorf…were ever you end up I hope its far away from the land of Hyrule. I've had to sacrifice too much to put an end to your evil demeanors_," I thought to myself as we continued down the narrow path to our destination.

"Its okay though, he's been sent to trial and, I'm sure that the kings royal council will decide his fate soon," Mido said as his hand receded off my shoulder. It was true, he had been sent to trial for his accusations of treason. Hopefully, the king would make the right decision.

As the path we followed started to get wider I had noticed we were fairly close to our destination. I was glad that we were almost there I was starting to get a little impatient. Then I heard a sound coming from the opposite direction Mido and I were going. It sounded like leaves ripping in half. My journeys had honed my sense of hearing and I could pick up things others could not with certain ease. I looked back and saw nothing, just a wide-open field. "_So she's following us huh? I guess I'll let her tag along for a little while_," I thought to myself. Mido turned to me and asked "Is something wrong, Link?"

"No its nothing. I just saw a Deku Scrub run by is all," I said with a bit of a chuckle. Mido gave me a nod and we both approached our final destination. We had finally arrived at the remains of The Great Deku Tree. He was still the biggest tree I had ever seen in my entire life, but he was withered and black. I could see that all the leaves had fallen off him and died. It was a depressing sight to see, he was the closest thing I ever had to a real father. However, something was different then the last time I had visited him. Their seemed to be a familiar looking object in front of the tree that I had seen once before. It was a round, broad tree with several anthropomorphic traits such as a face and short arm-like twigs sprouting from both sides of its trunk.

It looked at Mido with a big smile and said "Hey their Mido! Oh look and you brought a friend too! Are you two both going to hang out with me?

"Link, this is The Great Deku Sprout. He's the direct ancestor of The Great Deku Tree himself. He sprouted only a couple of months ago and I didn't want to tell any of the Kokiri because I thought they would make a big deal about and I didn't want to get to hectic in the forest," Mido said. I had met the sprout once before, but they didn't need to know that nor would they even believe me.

"Oh! So this is Link? Thank you for bringing him to me Mido," The Great Deku Sprout said excitedly.

"What did you want to see me for?" I asked him.

"Ahhh…yes I should probably get straight to the point and tell you about the changes that are about to befall our forest," The Great Deku Sprout said.

"What changes?" both Mido and I asked curiously.

"You two better take a seat, this may take a while to explain," The Great Deku Sprout said.


	3. The Burden of a Friend

The Road to Twilight; Chapter 3: The Burden of a Friend

Italics: thoughts

(Links P.O.V)

The forest had gotten quiet as Mido and I took a seat in front of The Great Deku Sprout. It was as if the entire forest was ready to listen to the sprouts words. I could hear rustling in the bushes behind us, she was still following us and it seems she too wanted to hear the sprouts words. The sprout started to open up his mouth to start speaking and simply said "I am going to die soon."

"Die? What the heck are you talking about?! You've only just been born… and now you say you are going to die," Mido yelled as he stood up. He looked angry and confused as he stood up to speak to the sprout. I wanted to say the same thing he did, but I knew there had to be more to it. "_The Great Deku Sprout wouldn't just die, he looks perfectly healthy from where I am_," I thought to myself. It was truly alien to me that this would ever happen; I mean when I was on my journey The Great Deku Sprout never said anything like this to me.

"Calm yourself young Mido, how you can you be the leader of the Kokiri and be this rash is beyond my comprehension," The Great Deku Sprout said. I was astonished, I never knew that Mido had been put in charge of the Kokiri. I suppose after The Great Deku Tree died somebody needed to stand up and take his place as the guardian of this forest. The Great Deku Sprout seemed to small and harmless to defend against anything, at least Mido could defend himself. "_Yeah right who am I kidding? He probably couldn't even beat a Skulltula_," I thought to myself; mentally giving myself a face palm.

Mido calmed his frustration and took a seat next to me again. "As I was saying, before The Great Deku Tree passed on he planted one magical Deku seed, witch would later sprout into me," the Great Deku Sprout said. He suddenly changed his tone and became very serious with his words and said "However, The

Great Deku Tree was in a weak state when he planted me and because of this I will not fully develop into the new Great Deku Tree, but will die young instead."

Mido and I were both speechless as he finished his sentence, but I soon broke the silence and asked him "Who will protect the forest then?"

"The forest is already in a very vulnerable state as it is. I cannot do anything to prevent monsters from coming into the forest; the only thing standing between them and the forest are the Kokiri," The Great Deku Sprout said seriously.

I glanced at Mido and saw the terrified expression on his face. To think that he now has to protect his entire race all by himself. "_I cannot let him face this burden alone, even though we used to hate each other years ago, we are still friends and friends must do everything in their power to help each other out_," I thought to myself.

I stood up from my seat in front of The Great Deku Sprout and said "Then if this is the burden Mido has to carry, I will help him protect the forest. I won't let him face this alone. We will both be the new guardians of Kokiri Forest."

Mido looked at me in shock, but then smiled and stood up next to me. "Thank you…. Link, I truly don't deserve to have a...friend like you," Mido said with pride. I was glad that we were both finally on equal terms. That the two of us could now truly call one another a "friend." "_We sure have come a long way_," I thought to myself as I lamented on our past.

"You two don't have to do this all by yourselves," yelled a familiar voice from behind the two of us. We all looked back to see where the voice had come from and behind a bush a girl stood up. She had short green hair that blended into the forests leaves and she adorned the traditional Kokiri tunic just like Mido and I did. She also had a hair band on to hold her hair up. She slowly walked toward where the four of us were all speaking.

"Saria! What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay with the others," Mido said shocked.

"Link, Mido, you two are not alone. Me and the other Kokiri we will all help you protect this forest together because that's what families do. They all look out for one another," she said completely ignoring Midos question. She was still as I remembered her to be when we were both young. She would always speak up for people and always help people out in their time of need. If only everybody in the world was like her, maybe we could all truly find peace. She grasped my hand my with her own and did the same with Mido.

"We are all Kokiri and we all look out for each other. We don't need you or any other kind of Deku Tree to protect us," she said admirably.

"Not all of you are Kokiri, isn't that right Link?" The Great Deku Sprout said looking at me. He was right technically we weren't one in the same, we were very different. I was not like the rest of them and I couldn't do anything to change that.

"It doesn't matter if Link is a Goron or Gerudo! He is our friend and that is all that matters," Saria said grasping my hand a little harder. Her words were so touching I felt like crying, but what kind of Hero cries? Heroes are supposed to be brave and admirable so why am I feeling like this?

"Ahhh…I forgot to mention that part," The Great Deku Sprout said.

"What part?" Mido asked.

"Link must leave this forest and his friends behind for good. He is not allowed in this forest anymore, so in other words, Link I am sorry, but I must banish you from this forest," The Great Deku Sprout said sadly.

"What are you talking about you stupid sprout? You have no right to make such decisions! You just said it yourself that Mido is the guardian of this forest, so it should be his call if Link stays or goes," Saria yelled as she let go of my hand as well as Mido's. I couldn't believe this, I had just gotten back to my home after almost a year and I was already asked to leave. Do I truly have a place anywhere in this world? What was the point of Zelda sending me back in time to live my childhood if I had no home? Even the Kokiri gave me those looks because I was an outsider.

"Saria is right! What makes you think that you can just make our friend leave this forest? Well no matter, I won't let you do this," Mido said.

"Why do you want me to leave?" I asked. I had to know the reason for it, their had to be something else going on. What was The Great Deku Sprout planning to do when I was gone and why should I leave in the first place?

"I am going to use the rest of my power before I die to help the rest of the Kokiri and all of this forests inhabitants," The Great Deku Sprout said. How exactly was he going to help them though? He was just a Great Deku Sprout and he was apparently on the verge of death, could he really help the entire forest?

"Oh really? How exactly are you going to do that?" Saria asked a little annoyed.

"I am going to use the rest of my power to make this forest even bigger and change the shape of you Kokiri as well so you will be able to live peacefully," The Great Deku Sprout said.

"Change the shape of us? What exactly do you mean?" Mido asked; sounding a little confused. I was a little baffled as well, how exactly could someone change shape. "_Maybe he's planning on giving them all Deku masks_," I thought to myself. Thinking about masks made me quiver, I didn't want to think about my adventure in Termina at the moment. Though I met many nice people, traveling with the moon staring at you is a little scary.

"I will use my power to turn you all into different forms so that you will be able to hide from monsters. This is why I asked for Link to leave because my Deku powers do not work on Hylians. I do not have anything against the boy, its just that I want whatever is best for him," The Great Deku Sprout said.

"If you do this will Saria and the others be safe? I asked The Great Deku Sprout.

"Link, you can't seriously be considering this? I mean you just got back after almost a year and now you want to leave again? Saria asked so many questions at once I almost fell off my feet.

"Saria, this isn't about me, this is about the future of your tribe," I said attempting to comfort her. She didn't seem to be calmed by my words and she still seemed a bit annoyed. "_I didn't want to leave the forest anymore than she didn't want me to leave the forest, but if it this it what needs to be done to protect the people that I grew up with then so be it_," I thought to myself.

"I will do as you say Great Deku Sprout because this is what's best for the future of the Kokiri," I said.

"Link….you can't be serious? After everything we've been through together!" Saria yelled as she turned her attention toward me. I didn't mean to hurt her I just wanted to do what was best for her. "I thought…..we were supposed to be best friends," Saria said with sadness in her voice. She turned away from me and started running back towards Kokiri Forest.

"Saria wait! I never meant for it to be like this," I said as I reached out for her to come back. I looked at Mido who had a blank expression on his face. "I thought maybe me and you would finally get a chance to get along an hang out as true friends," he said to me. I never wanted it to come to this, I had put both of my friends in a state of depression. "Mido, you know that I would like to do that more then anything in the world, but you have to remember that the forests safety should come first," I said to him.

"Is this the main reason that you wanted me to bring him to you?" Mido asked The Great Deku Sprout.

"Yes, but that was not the only reason. I wanted you; the guardian of the Kokiri to be here when I revealed the future of this forest," The Great Deku Sprout said.

"Link, this is what must be done then. I may be rash, but I need to do what is best for my tribe. We have to survive and if that means changing our forms from children into something else, then so be it," Mido said with confidence. His attitude seemed to change from depression to acceptance. "_I had never seen Mido sound so heroic before. "Maybe he's not that big of an idiot as I thought he was_," I thought to myself.

"Thank you for understanding Mido, now I should probably go look for Saria. She is probably sad and hurt. I need to be there to make her feel better, after all that's what friends do for one another," I said with a chuckle. I started to make my way towards Kokiri Forest until the Great Deku Sprout said "Link, you can spend one more day in this forest to spend time with your friends, but once the sun comes up tomorrow you must leave…I truly am sorry."

"Thank you," I said as I made my continued on my path towards Kokiri Forest.

* * *

As I entered Kokiri Forest again for the second time today, I found something different about it then I did earlier. Instead of all the small Kokiri children quivering in fear from me, they all just stared at me. As if I was a giant among midgets, "_Oh wait I am_," I thought to myself. I ignored most of the stares that they gave me and made my way towards Saria's house. However, once at her house, I entered and noticed that there was nobody home. Baffled, I went back outside and went to go find someone to ask about her whereabouts. I went to go find the nearest Kokiri I could find. I came upon a blonde girl with short hair, who was one of the only ones not giving me a cold stare.

"Hey their Fado, you haven't happened to see Saria come by through here, have you?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I saw her run by not to long ago. She looked very upset and she looked like she was heading towards Lost Woods," she responded. She seemed very concerned about her friend, just like I was.

"Thank you, Fado," I said as started to make my way towards Lost Woods. Before I could leave Kokiri Forest however, Fado stopped me by saying "Link, she cares a lot about you, you know?"

I stopped for a second and said "We've been friends for a long time and she has always helped me in my time of need. Now its my turn to do the same for her." She always used to stick up for me whenever Mido and the others used to pick on me for not having a fairy. By being a Kokiri, it is customary to have a fairy as your companion. Almost everyone in the forest had one except for me, but one day The Great Deku Tree gave me a fairy of my very own. "_Navi_," I thought to myself. Just thinking about her made me feel like a failure. However, it was not the time to think about such things. So I continued on towards Lost Woods to go look for Saria.

* * *

Lost Woods is another part of the vast forest that is very different from our own Kokiri Forest. More monsters inhabit Lost Woods, like Deku Scrubs and Deku Babas. However, even though it is very dangerous, Saria often goes there to hang out and play her ocarina. I often joined her sometimes to listen to her play. She is very good, a lot better then I'll ever be at the instrument. After all, she is the one who taught me how to play it. The Lost Woods is a lot more cramp then Kokiri Forest is, it's very hard to move around because of all of the trees everywhere. You can also get lost very easily in there, hence the name "Lost Woods." However, their was something different about Lost Woods, you could usually hear Saria playing her ocarina almost all the time, but the forest was silent. This was strange because when Saria is not playing her ocarina, you know something is wrong.

I made my way through the Lost Woods without much of a problem. I memorized the path I had to take to get to Saria, due to the fact that I had been there many times before. It didn't take me long to reach the Sacred Forest Meadow. The Sacred Forest Meadow is a sacred place that lies in the deepest part of the forest. In it lies the Forest Temple, the place that I had found the Sage of the Forest during my journeys. When I was tasked with awakening the sages to stop Ganondorf, it turned out that Saria was actually one of them. "_However, that is all in the past, I can't think about that right now. I have to find Saria_," I thought to myself as I made my way to the front of the forest temple. Though, when I reached my destination I was shocked. Most of the area seemed unchanged. It was a wide patch of grass with a few rocks here and there. Though, instead of the forest temple being in the middle of the area, a new temple was there. This one looked much newer and bigger as well. It had glass windows and white walls. There were even a few strange looking statues in front of the entrance. I recognized the temple, it was one that I could never forget. "How in the world did this get into the forest," I said to myself.

"I don't know it appeared only a few days ago, I am just as confused as you are," a familiar voice said. It was Saria, I hadn't noticed that she was directly in front of me, but I was to taken back by the fact that this huge structure was now where the forest temple used to be. She didn't seem to be that depressed about me having to leave the forest because of the obscure thing that was right in front of us which was good. I approached the large structure and slowly rubbed my hand against the surface. "Yeah, this isn't an illusion. It's real," I thought to myself as stopped rubbing the surface of the temple.

"Isn't this the temple that you said you saw in Hyrule Castle Town when The Great Deku Tree sent you?" Saria asked. She was right this temple and I had met before, but many times more then she thought. I had told her about all of the sights that I saw when, The Great Deku Tree sent me on my journey.

"Yes, this is the same one. The Temple of Time," I said.

"How did it end up here?" Saria asked me.

I had no idea what the answer to that question was. All of this seemed completely impossible to me, but there it was, standing right in front of me. "_So this is where it ended up_," I thought to myself. I could not help but remember the day that I returned from my journey through time itself.


	4. Sayonara, Saria

The Road to Twighlight; Chapter 4: Sayonara, Saria

Italics: thoughts

Flash Back* (Links P.O.V)

There was a bright blue light that covered me. The light engulfed everything around me as well. I couldn't see a thing and started to get a sensational feeling. It was as if everything around me was moving and changing. I started to feel somewhat distorted by the bright blue light. I couldn't see her anymore. She was standing right in front of me not only a few seconds ago, but also, she along with everything around me had suddenly vanished. The only thing that did not vanish was that melodious tune. It was soothing and hypnotic; I got so caught up with the song that I found myself humming to it. I closed by eyes because the light was so bright. This was an important song in my life, as well as hers too. To me, it signified change or a new beginning. To her, it held a great sentimental value toward both her and her family. The Song of Time, the shear mention of the name of the melody made me think about the gods of old. Was this always their plan? To have one man save an entire kingdom by going through time itself to defeat an evil threat. I never thought that I would do half the things that I did on my journey, nor did I think that I would even become this kind of hero. I always thought that I would amount to nothing in my life. Just be the punch line of every joke that a Kokiri made. That I would always be different from everybody else just because I didn't have a fairy to call my very own. However, here I was, getting sent back to re-live the childhood that I had lost.

The bright blue light had started to fade and became smaller. I could start to see things appear in front of me as the light started to vanish. Even when the light started to fade away, the melody still played. It echoed all around me, spreading its melodious tune all around. Then all at once, everything just came to a stop. The light vanished completely, as did the melody. The sensational feeling that I had went away and I felt normal again. I heard a chime and a flutter of wings from behind me as I started to open my eyes.

Even after all this time she still stood besides me. It didn't matter where I went in the world, she would always be one step behind me. Even though we had not been friends for a long time. I immediately felt a connection between the two of us. Like, I couldn't live without her. We had become one and the same and I think she felt the same exact way. Navi, she would follow me to the ends of the earth.

When I opened my eyes I was in the same exact spot that I was seven years ago. I was in a small room with white walls. I was on a pedestal in the shape of a hexagon. The seven sage symbols were imbedded all around the pedestal as well as the iconic royal family emblem: The Triforce. The Triforce consisted of three triangles, each representing something different: courage, wisdom and power. The Temple of Time, it was where I technically spent half of my life. As I noticed that I had returned to the temple I looked up towards the ceiling. A bright light shined from it; pointing towards my sword. My sword was none other then the legendary blade of evils bane: The Master Sword. It was a long double-edged blade that's pommel was purple. The Triforce can be seen engraved in the lower part of the blade and a yellow gemstone is embedded in the cross guard.

The light slowly moved off my sword and started moving towards the pedestal in front of me. It was the Pedestal of Time, the place in which I originally pulled the Master Sword out from. The light stopped on the Pedestal of Time and stayed there. Something inside of me told me what to do and I placed the Master Sword back in its eternal resting place. It was as if the gods themselves were telling me to place the sword back. It was never truly mine and if the world was ever in danger again, this sword had to be here to help. With that, the sword was back in its original resting place. The light started to fade away and recede towards the top of the ceiling. I started to here a chime and the flutter of wings once again. Navi, she was flying towards the ever-vanishing light. She flew all the way to the top of the ceiling following the bright light.

"Link, you're a magnificent hero! The forest will be safe with you there. Link…..I love you!" she said as she started to disappear. The light and her both vanished into thin air. The entire room turned back to normal and everything seemed to be back to the way it was before. "_Navi loved me? Why hadn't she told me before, even though I didn't feel the same way about her_," I thought to myself.

"_Wait a second_,"

"Navi! Where did you go? Don't tell me you're just playing a cruel game of hide and seek?" I said as my voice echoed throughout the temple. As much as I wanted to trick myself that this was true, it wasn't. It seemed that she had just abruptly left me without any reason for doing so. "_Maybe, she just went to go to the forest to tell everyone I am okay_," I thought to myself. I was a little sad that she had left in such a hurry.

"I better get back to the others as soon as possible and meet her there," I said to myself as I started to make my way out of the temple. As I exited the temple, I could not help, but think of how it was finally over. I had finally triumphed over Ganondorf and saved Hyrule, now what was I going to do? What time was it that exactly Zelda sent me back too? Was it the day before the invasion of Ganondorf and his army or was it the day after I found the last Spiritual Stone? All these question flew around my head, I had to figure out the answers and the only way I could do this, was by getting out of the Temple of Time. The Door of Time slowly closed behind me. As I started to approach the door to the exit of the temple, I noticed the Spiritual Stones were not in front of The Door of Time. "_I must have been sent back before I went on my journey to find them, so that would mean that Ganondorf_."

I suddenly realized what I had to do and opened the door to the outside world. I still had a job to do and this wasn't over just yet. I exited the Temple of Time and stepped on the grass outside. It was good to be back, the sky was a bright blue and not one ReDead was in sight. "_I must have traveled back to the day when The Great Deku Tree sent me to go see Princess Zelda_," I thought to myself as I closed the front doors of The Temple of Time. I searched my pockets for a specific item that I was looking for. I pulled out the item I was looking for and I held it in my hand. It was a green jewel: The Kokiri's Emerald. One of the three Spiritual Stones needed to open The Door of Time; witch you needed to open to get the Master Sword. I also noticed that I was equipped with only a few items, including my wooden shield: The Deku Shield. Witch was embedded with a swirled line, the Kokiri emblem. I also had Saria's ocarina with me. I also noticed that I had a slingshot, as well as a few Deku Seeds. I also had my old Kokiri Sword, it had a red pommel, but the blade was short. It wasn't much, but it would have to do for a little while. I had to warn Princess Zelda of Ganondorfs treacherous nature, so I started to make my way towards Hyrule Castle. However, when I started walking away from the Temple of Time, I noticed that it started to shake. The temple moved around franticly and all of a sudden vanished into nothing. The Temple completely vanished right before my very eyes. I couldn't believe what had just happened, was this real or just a dream? I decided to ignore the strange occurrence because I had an important duty to be done

*End of Flashback

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The Temple of Time had disappeared and reappeared in a different location. The only explanation I could think of is that maybe the gods have something to do with it, but how could that be? The gods had left after the creation of the land that would be our very own land of Hyrule. Could this have somehow be connected to Navi's disappearance? All of these question flowed through my mind and it was beginning to annoy me. It was as if the the Temple of Time actually replaced the Forest Temple. The Forest Temple was completely out of sight. It was just gone. Then I had the sudden urge to touch the doors to the temple. As I reached out to touch the temples doors Saria asked, "What's the matter Link?" I ignored her question and placed my hand on the doors. Then suddenly I had a surge of thoughts rush through my mind, as If someone was trying to tell me something. There were flashing images in my mind of the three gods, the Temple of Time and my home: the forest. Then all the images faded away and I was left with just my own thoughts to contemplate. Then everything came full circle; the gods had moved the temple to a safer location. Just in case someone tried to tamper with the blade or maybe if a new hero was ever needed. It would be placed in a safe location until it was needed. The gods had communicated with me telepathically showing me their actions and now I fully understood why it happened. Even when they left the land of Hyrule it seemed they still wanted to look after both it and its inhabitants.

"This will be the Temple of Times new resting place," I said calmly as I took my hand away from the door. Saria looked somewhat confused at my statement and said, "So I guess this will have to be our new special place."

"It can be all of our special place! Yelled a mysterious voice. I looked to see where the voice had come from, but couldn't seem to find the location where the voice came from. The voice however, seemed somewhat familiar. It was a little silly and childish, the voice was almost hypnotic actually.

"Hey whose there? Show your self!" I yelled as I prepared to draw my sword. "_I have to be cautious this could be a deadly monster that we are dealing with,_" I thought. I stepped in front of Saria to make sure that she was out of harms way. She quivered behind me and said, "Be careful Link."

"Hee hee! Silly I'm not here to hurt you," the voice said. Then a mysterious figure came down from the tree above us and landed right in front of Saria and me. The mysterious figure lunged at me making me fall over. The figure landed on top of me and looked at me straight in the eyes. The figure was small and was dressed in a red cloak and hat covering an under layer of clothing. A mask covered his face. The mask was white and had a big smile on it with teeth from its mouth showing. It also had yellow eyes and black pupils designed on the mask. It was actually quite an impressive looking mask, but it brought back scary memories. "_That mask looks just like….the moon_," I thought to myself as I tried to push the small masked figure off of me.

The moon was a dreaded image from my past. To most people, the moon is a symbol of the night and is suppose to be soothing to people while they sleep. It was never meant to be something menacing, it was like the substitute for the sun when it was nighttime. However, for me and every citizen of the land of Termina, it represented the very fear of dying in just three days. How would you feel if you knew that you only had three days to live? Would you spend those last three days with the ones you love or would spend them living in fear of approaching death? This was my adventure in Termina; I had to live with this for what seemed like a decade. I had to save the land of Termina in just three days before the moon crashed into Termina. I was entrusted in stopping the apocalypse from happening. I had to stop a Skull Kid possessed by an evil mask named Majora from causing the moon to reach its destination. What an adventure it was, but it made be scared of looking at the moon afterward.

I pushed the small figure off of me and stood up to confront the perpetrator. Then two small lights came down from the tree where the figure had come from. The lights had wings and they fluttered there way next to the figure that had tackled me. They were fairies, just like Navi. Except both looked very familiar, one of the fairies had a dark purple color and the other had a bright yellow color.

"Link I can't believe its really you!" yelled the yellow fairy as she flew over to me. She flew all around my head franticly in excitement.

"Tatl! I cant believe its really you! I feel like its been ages since our adventure in Termina," I said as I gave her a small high five. Her hand was like a small speck on my hand, when our hands touched. She sure had changed a lot since we first met. She used to be so much ruder and oblivious to everything around her, but now she truly was nice to me and cared about me. "_I guess when two people travel together they can set aside their differences and work together_," I thought to myself. She had accompanied me through Termina at first just to be reunited with her brother: Tael. However, the longer we were together the more we started to care about each other. "

"_We became true friends after all in only three days_."

"Friends sure are a nice thing to have..huh," said the small cloaked figure. He took off the mask he was wearing after saying so. He had bright yellow eyes and an orange mouth.

"Skull Kid and Tael, its good to see all of you again," I said as Skull Kid put his mask back on to cover his face. What were they doing in Hyrule? They said that they were all staying in Termina before he left. Maybe they had changed their minds and wanted to come and live in Hyrule?

Skull Kid seemed to be somewhat interested in Saria. Saria seemed somewhat confused because she had never met any of these people in her entire life before. Skull Kid ran up to Saria and started to observe her. He then stuck his hand out toward her and said "My names Skull Kid! What's yours?"

Saria awkwardly shook his hand and said "Umm, Hello there. My names Saria..nice to meet you." She seemed somewhat nervous because she was around new people. Saria was very shy sometimes. Skull Kid then moved closer to Saria and started to sniff her.

"What in the world are you doing!? Yelled Saria as she pushed Skull Kid away. She seemed somewhat taken back at the fact that somebody had just sniffed her.

"I knew it was you! Hee Hee! You're the same fairy kid that taught me that song in the woods! Now I remember!" Skull Kid exclaimed.

Saria and Skull Kid had met once before? How could this be I had only met Skulk Kid a little while ago in the forest. Had she befriended him before I did?

"Oh yes, I remember now. You're the silly little Skull Kid who wanted to learn how to play my song," she responded.

"Oh! Lets play the song now! Can we, can we, please? Skull Kid asked a bit childishly. He reached into his cloak and pulled out what seemed to be a musical instrument. It was shaped just like a trumpet, but it had more then one bell coming out of it.

"Do you like my trumpet? I promise I didn't steal it, Link!" Skull Kid was always a mischievous one. He would always play around too much and end up taking it to far. This is what always ended up getting him in trouble. "_However, it seems he has toned down a little bit, but he still is a bit silly_," I thought to myself.

"Playing music will make me feel so much better!" Saria exclaimed as she took out her ocarina. She had acquired a new ocarina after she gave me her old one. Her new one was green and had the Kokiri emblem engraved on it. Her face was filled with excitement now. Music always seemed to cheer Saria up.

"Come on Link! Take out your Ocarina and we can all play music together!" She said with excitement in her voice. Even though I would really enjoy playing music with Saria and Skull Kid, I had to ask a few questions first.

"Wait, before we start playing…may I ask a few questions?" I said.

"Aw come on! Can't it wait till later grasshopper?" Skull Kid said with a whimper in his voice. I twitched at the nickname. I didn't like it. Saria seemed to giggle a little bit at the name.

I chose to ignore the nickname for now and said, "Fine. Will all play music, but after we are done you will tell me how you and Saria met, Skull Kid. I also want to know what you guys are all doing in Hyrule." I put my hand into one of my pouches that I used to carry some of my travelling items and pulled out my ocarina. My ocarina was light blue and had the royal family crescent engraved on it. It was a very important gift that was given to me from a special friend. She entrusted me with the royal family's prize possession: The Ocarina of Time.

"Awesome! This is going to be show much fun!" Tatl yelled as she started to flutter around franticly.

"Yeah this is going to be so fun!" both Saria and Skull kid said together. Saria and I both started to play our ocarinas; creating an up beat little tune. Skull kid started to play along to our melody with his trumpet. Tatl and Tael started dancing all around together. The melody was one that Saria created herself. It was a fast and unpredictable song. It was the same song I used to listen to in order to find Saria in the Lost Woods. She dubbed the song: Saria's Song.

* * *

Saria and I were both finished playing our ocarinas; Tatl and Tael both ceased dancing after the song had ended. Skull Kid stopped playing his trumpet, but continued to dance in place. "Woohoo! That was so much fun, I love that song soooooooooo much," Skull Kid said excitedly.

"Yeah that was so much fun! I feel a lot better now!" Saria said happily. She seemed to be back to normal. I was happy that I got to see her smile again; it was one of the few things in this world that I couldn't live without. Tatl and Tael both seemed like they had fun as well.

"Now back to my question," I said as I put my ocarina away. I still had a few questions to ask Skull Kid and the others.

"Oh yeah right." Skull kid said as he stopped dancing. He put his trumpet away and adjusted his mask. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"First off, what are you guys doing here in Hyrule?" I asked.

"We decided to come here to live permanently, we thought we would fit in better with the rest of the people in the forest," Tatl said.

"Yeah! We wanted to be with our friends again!" Skull Kid said. That was just like Skull Kid to say. He always put his friends above anything else. That's his nature after all.

"Alright. Second, when did you meet Saria?" I asked.

"I was busy one day in the forest looking for herbs. He jumped out of nowhere and scared me. I told him it wasn't nice to scare people like that and after that I told him I would teach him a song. However, when I met him, he didn't have these two fairies accompanying him," Saria said.

"We didn't meet until Skull Kid found his way into Termina," Tael said. It all made sense now. Skull Kid has met Saria some time before he met Tatl and Tael. He traveled to Hyrule with both of them to meet up with Saria and I.

"Alright, I guess that clears everything up then," I said. I looked up to the sky; it was starting to get dark. More monsters came out during the night than the day. "I think it would be a good idea to head back to Kokiri Forest."

"Aw we can't play anymore?" Skull Kid asked.

"We will see, we should all head back to Kokiri Forest to get some rest now. Besides, I bet everyone in the forest would love to meet you guys," I said.

"Alright! That means I can make even more friends! Tatl, Tael lets go! Skull Kid yelled as he started to make his way towards Kokiri Forest with his fairy friends. I started to follow him closely behind, but stopped when I noticed that Saria was not following us. She was just standing still, looking at the Temple of Time. I approached her slowly and said "Come on Saria, everyone is waiting for us to get back."

"Aren't you going to tell them?" she asked. I knew what she was referring too. She was wondering why I didn't tell Tatl and the others that I was to leave the forest for good the next day.

"I let them now when we get back. I think it would break their hearts if I told them after all the fun we just had." Saria sighed and looked at me and said "That was a fun last day though. I'm glad we got to do that before you leave," she said.

"I'm glad we did that too. Come on let's get back to the others," I said.

"What's taking you so long you slowpokes? Lets get a move on!" Skull Kid yelled from afar. Saria and I both chuckled a little as we started to run towards Skull Kid and the others. As we left I thought about how much better the Temple of Time looked in the forest then in the middle of Castle Town. "_It will be much safer there_," I thought to myself.

* * *

The rest of the day was loads of fun. We introduced Skull Kid and the others to the rest of the Kokiri. At first they seemed a little frighten of him, but as he showed off some of his childish demeanors, they got to like him a lot more. They all seemed to get a kick out of his mask and thought it was hilarious. Tatl and Tael both seemed to fit perfectly in with the rest of the Kokiri fairies. Everyone got together at Saria's house and we all had a big feast. I had brought her a pink rose that I picked outsider her house; she placed it in her hair and gave me a hug. It felt pretty awesome. It was like a little farewell party for me; this was when I had to tell Skull Kid and the others about our situation.

"I'm sorry to tell you thing guys, but I have leave the forest for good tomorrow. The Great Deku Sprout and Mido, have both come the conclusion that in order to protect the forest they have to change the Kokiris forms. However, I am not a Kokiri so I would not be able to change with them. Plus, I would draw attention to the group because I am different," I said. It was all so much information to say, but I think they seemed to understand me.

"Aw, but I really want to play more music with you grasshopper," Skull Kid said sadly. He looked genuinely sad to see that I had to leave. After all I was the main reason he came here to Hyrule. It must have been difficult for him because he had wanted to spend time with me. However, it wasn't just him that seemed upset. All of the Kokiri seemed genuinely sad that I had to leave. Even though they all still couldn't get used to me being older, they all seemed to look past it and treat me like…a friend. Even Mido, who was all the way in the back of the room, seemed sad that I had to leave, He was never one to show his true feelings.

"I can't believe this. I just get to see you again and now you have to leave?" Tatl asked sadly.

"Yes, I am very sorry," I said with deep remorse. I was truly sad at the fact that they had come so far just for me and now I was leaving. "_This must be like how Malon felt when I left for Termina_," I thought to myself. After all this time in the forest I just had to leave? The forest is the only place I've ever actually called home.

Mido came out from the corner of the room and said "I had a talk with The Great Deku Sprout, he said it was alright for the three of you to stay here." Tatl and Tael fluttered around and danced happily with the other Kokiri's fairies at the statement. Skull Kid didn't seem to pleased by the statement.

Saria put down the drink she was holding and said "Is something wrong, Skull Kid?" Skull Kid looked at me, adjusted his mask and said, "Are you going to visit at all?"

I had never thought about visiting. In fact, I didn't even know where I was going to go after I left the forest. All I knew was that I had to leave in order to everyone to be safe. That was all that I cared about. I looked at Mido and made a strange gesture.

"Well, you see Skull Kid when Link returns we won't be the same anymore. We are all changing and we might forget things in the process. This is what The Great Deku Sprout told me, these are some of the drawbacks of us changing shape. We might not even remember him," Mido said.

The whole room went silent. Everyone was already informed about the memory loss that may occur during the change. They all seemed frightened when Mido brought it up though. Even Saria seemed greatly upset at what Mido had said.

Skull Kid then broke the silence in the room and said "Then if this is the last time we meet, I want you to have this grasshopper." He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out an old withered out mask in the shape of a skull. "This was the first mask I ever wore, it was given to me by someone who I hold very dear to my heart. Please take it as a token of our friendship," he said happily. He gave the mask to me and I accepted gratefully.

"Thank you Skull Kid, I will keep this safe," I said.

The rest of the afternoon went great. I told every one of the great adventures I had been on and the interesting people I had met. I told them of the Happy Mask Salesman, who was silly yet scary sometimes. I told them about the odd man Tingle, who believed that he was a fairy. We all had many laughs and it was a night to remember. Once night came everyone went back to their homes, saying that they would see me off in the morning. However, I was planning on leaving early the next day so no one had to see me go. I couldn't stand goodbyes, even if it was with people that I didn't care for very much, I still hated goodbyes. Skull Kid, Tatl and Tael were going to be staying in Saria's house until they could find a place to live. As I started to make my way home after saying goodbye to Saria and Skull Kid, I was approached my Mido.

"Hey, Link," he said. It was dark out so I couldn't see his face very well. However, his voice seemed somewhat deeper and serious.

"Hi, Mido. That was a fun afternoon wasn't it?" I said smiling even though he probably couldn't even se it.

"Yeah it was fun. That Skull kid sure eats a lot," he said with a chuckle. He was right, Skull Kid had eaten almost half of the food Saria and Fado had prepared for everyone.

I laughed a little bit and said "Do Skull Kids even have stomachs?" Mido and I both started laughing together. We both couldn't stop laughing and kept talking for the rest of the walk to my house. When we reached my house Mido said, "Alright so I guess this is it."

"What do you mean? Aren't you going to come with the others tomorrow to see me off?" I asked shocked.

"Come on Link, I know you better then that. You're going to leave early so you don't have to say goodbye to anyone. You hate goodbyes," Mido said confidently. I rubbed the back of my neck. I was a bit embarrassed. Mido knew me better then I thought he did.

"Well I guess you got me," I said with a bit of a chuckle. I reached into one of my pouches that I used for carrying traveling items and pulled out a long boomerang. It had curved edges and both sides of it looked like the wings on a bird. It was a fairly large boomerang that I acquired on my travels from a man who said that the object was possessed by a fairy. He called it the "Gale Boomerang."

"I want you to have this," I said as I put the boomerang in his hands. He seemed somewhat baffled at the large object in his hands.

"Wow thanks, Link….um what exactly is this thing? He asked me as he played around with the large object.

"That's the Gale Boomerang, try giving it a throw," I said as I pointed to it. He took the boomerang and through it creating a small whirlwind around the boomerang as it span around in a circular motion. It then came back to him as he caught it in his hands. I was impressed; usually Mido couldn't even catch a ball if it was thrown at him.

"Hey, your pretty good with that thing. You'll need that to protect the people you care about out," I said.

He looked into my eyes and started to tear up a little. He lunged at me and pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry I was never there for you, Link. I just wish I could have been a better friend to you," he said sadly with tears dripping down his face. I was much taller then he was. His green hat only brushed up to the top of my nose. I pushed him away from me and stuck out my hand.

"That's all in the past now. From now on were friends," I said. He whipped away the last of the tears with his hand and put his hand on mine. We shook hands and said our goodbyes. I climbed up my tree house of a home and looked down at Kokiri Forest for one last time. "Thank you everyone."

* * *

It was dusk; the sun hadn't even come up yet. I had packed my things the night beforehand so I could leave faster. I had packed just the essentials really, my sword, shield, ocarina and various other items. I probably should have stocked up on food, but I didn't have enough time to do that. I climbed down the ladder of my tree house taking one last good look at it. It was finally time to move on I guess, a great change was coming to this forest and I had to change with it. I continued out of the forest while everyone was still in his or her homes sleeping. It was a little cold out and I shivered a bit as I made by way towards the exit of the forest. I took one last good look of the forest and took one last breath of the fresh forest air. It was finally time to leave this place. I continued on to the exit of the forest. I passed through a large log that was connected to a bridge where the exit of the forest was. I made my way through the dark log and continued onto the rickety bridge. I continued across the bride until I heard a voice say "Link."

I turned around and saw Saria leaning on the ropes that kept the bridge up, she was still searing the red rose I her hair. She didn't seem tired even though it was still very early in the morning. "_What is she doing here? This is exactly what I was trying to avoid_," I thought to myself.

"Saria, what are you doing up so early," I said nervously. She looked very serious, I had never seen this serious before in all my life.

"So you're just going to leave? After all we've been through," she said. She seemed to have a blank expression on her face. It seemed she didn't know how to feel about me leaving.

"I'm sorry, but I need to do this in order to-

"Protect the forest I know!" she interrupted. She seemed to be angry with me now. Part of me just wanted to run away from her, but another part of me wanted to talk to her. "That's all you ever talk about is protecting us, Link! What about you? Have you ever once thought about what you wanted? She did have a point; I always cared about others rather then myself. Isn't that a good trait?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, you need to think about what you want sometimes. Is this what you really want Link? To leave both me and the forest behind?" she said. I walked up to where she was standing on the bridge so that I was closer to her.

"Saria you are my best friend and you always will be. No I don't want t leave you and the forest, but I don't need to do this because The Great Deku Sprout told me or cause I want to protect you guys. I feel that this is something I need to do in order to find out about who I really am and why I am here on this world," I said. She seemed to understand what I meant and said "I get it, I just wanted to come out here to make sure that you were absolutely sure about this." She seemed satisfied at what I said and that made me happy. I approached her and said "Close your eyes and stick out your hands."

"Why?" She asked. She seemed to be a bit creeped out at what I said.

"Don't worry, I wont do anything weird. I promise," I said as gave her a smile. She nodded and closed her eyes. "If you do anything weird I promise I will sock you," she said as she stuck her hands out. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a green worn out ocarina. Saria had given it to be the day that I left the forest to go and see Princess Zelda. I kept it with me always as I went on my adventures, even after I got the Ocarina of Time from Zelda. I kept it with me to remind me of Saria, whenever I would be about to give up; I would look at her ocarina and it would give me the courage to keep on going. I placed the ocarina in her hands and said "Okay, you can open you eyes now."

Saria opened her eyes and saw what was in her hands. She opened her mouth in awe and said "Oh Link, my ocarina. I can't take this, it was a gift for you not me." She was about to give it back to be when I took her hand and covered the ocarina with mine.

"This ocarina has been on a longer journey then you think. I want you to have it so it can bring you the same joy that that it did to me," I said as she took the ocarina into her hands and looked at it carefully.

"Thank you Link. I will cherish it always," she said as she put the ocarina away. She started to cry a little bit and threw herself at me. She pulled me into a tight embrace and cried on my shoulder. "Please, never forget me or the forest Link." I wrapped my arms around her and put my head on hers. "I won't," I said. She made her way out of the hug and stepped back a few steps and ran away. She ran all the way back towards the forest. I tried to reach out and grab her, but she was gone. She had left the bridge and my life. I slowly turned around and walked out of the forest that I had called home for my entire life.

* * *

It was cold and dark. It had been raining for almost the whole day while I was traveling. I started to feel sick, my throat was sore and I kept sneezing. I felt horrible. The heavy rain wasn't making it any better either. I had no idea where to go now that I had left the forest. I couldn't go back and try to convince everyone to let me back in. I just decided that I would go wherever my feet would take me and that was not working out very well. I started to get dizzy and started to feel slight nausea. I kept trying to walk in the slippery mud, but I kept falling down. I felt like giving up, but I thought about everyone in the forest and how much it would hurt them if I didn't realize my dream. So I kept pressing on through the dark and gloomy Hyrule Field. However, more time passed and I started to feel worse. The nausea got worse and I started to get even dizzier. Things around me started to fade in and fade out. My vision was starting to blur a little as I heard the rain tumble onto the ground. The last thing I remembered was hitting the ground into a big puddle of mud, but I started to hear stomping. Galloping of some kind of horse, but I didn't know here It was coming from or who it was riding this horse. Then everything went black and the heavy rain suddenly stopped.

**Authors Note: Thanks everyone for waiting for the next chapter so patiently. Sorry it took so long to update, I have been busy with finals, but all in all I'm glad I finally got this chapter out. Leave reviews please! I'd like to get some input on this! Thank You All!**


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